Position Papers

Over the years EASA has produced a number of position papers on several issues. Below are extracts of the latest ones. Full position papers can be released to interested people upon request.

Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD)

The Audiovisual Media Services Directive 2010/13/EU contains a common set of rules around advertising standards, including a ban on tobacco advertising and restrictions around advertising to children that apply to all audiovisual content services. The document also features rules about programme sponsorship, product placement and quantitative limitations on the amount of advertising time allowed per hour on linear services.

The AVMS Directive was the first directive to formally recognise the value of advertising self-regulation and the important role it can play in delivering a high level of consumer protection.

The European Commission Digital Single Market Strategy published in May 2015 officially announced the revision of the AVMS Directive. In the summer of 2015 the Commission launched a public consultation on the Directive aimed at examining the functioning of the AVMS Directive with a focus on its scope and on the nature of the rules applicable. Below you can find EASA’s answer to the public consultation.

Background information

The AVMS Directive updated the 1989 ‘Television without Frontiers’ Directive, the main advertising regulation in the EU.

The AVMSD is a minimum harmonisation Directive. This means that Member States are free to choose the most appropriate means to achieve the EU objectives at the national level and that they can put in place stricter rules at the national level provided that those rules are consistent with the general principles of European law.